What utilities ought to know

Many have failed to attract customers in trying to bundle energy with other retail products. The Europeans may have found the right model.

Alex Briones is a principal with Booz Allen in the energy group, based in London. Matthew McKenna is a partner with Booz Allen in the energy group, based in Houston. Neil McArthur is a partner with Booz Allen in the energy group, based in Amsterdam.

The DOE's new hydrogen car initiative won't get very far without electric utilities.

It was a "classic" publicity event-long on vision, but short on substance. There he was, the Secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE), Spencer Abraham, standing toe-to-toe with each of the heads of the "Motown Three." The big announcement, on Jan. 9, was that the DOE and the nation's carmakers would create a public-private partnership to promote hydrogen as a primary fuel for cars and trucks, as part of America's effort to reduce its dependence on foreign oil.

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